Nicholas Merrill founded Calyx Internet Access Corporation in 1995. Calyx Internet Access was one of the first commercial Internet service providers operating in New York City. Calyx pursued relationships with and worked with many activist groups on a pro bono or low-cost basis, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Independent Media Center (Indymedia.org) and the Drug Policy Foundation.

In 2004, after a receiving a “National Security Letter” from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a subsequent request from the U.S. Secret Service, Calyx became involved with the ACLU and in using the legal system and the media to resist illegal government requests for information on Internet users. For six and a half years, Merrill and the ACLU tirelessly challenged the orders contained in the letter, resulting in the establishment of two key legal precedents overturning aspects of the national security letter program.

Internet pioneer Rop Gonggrijp is a hacker from day one and still active today. In a discussion with Diana McCarty he explains the background of netzpolitics, activism, prozac and the meaning of the hacker movement.